4Ds
Trephining,
Torture,
Lobotomies,
Hospitals
What is
Abnormal?
History
Module 47
Intro to
Abnormal Psych
Philippe Pinel,
Dorothea Dix
Causes/Treatments
Perspectives
Medical
Bio Psycho
Social
Labeling
DSM-5
Pros
Cons
Do Now:
• What is “normal”?
• In terms of disorders, how should we define
who is, and who isn’t “abnormal”?
• Are you “normal”? Explain with specifics!
Do Now
• Have out your completed AP Exam, think of
your happy & crappy, AND one way you
experienced psychology over break. Be ready
to share 
Abnormal Psychology
• the scientific study of abnormal behavior in
order to describe, predict, explain, and change
abnormal patterns of functioning
What makes a Behavior a
Psychological Disorder?
• Many definitions have been proposed, yet
none are universally accepted
• ¨ Most definitions, however, share some
common features…
• “The Four Ds”
– Deviance
– Distress
– Dysfunction
– Danger
Psychological Disorders
What is deviant, distressful, and
dysfunctional may depend on…
•Culture
•Time Period
•Environmental Conditions
•Individual Person
DSM-V Definition of Mental Disorder
• A mental disorder is a syndrome characterized by clinically significant
disturbance in an individual’s cognition, emotion regulation, or
behavior that reflects a dysfunction in the psychological, biological, or
developmental processes ,underlying mental functioning. Mental
disorders are usually associated with significant distress or disability
in social, occupational, or other important activities. An expectable or
culturally approved response to a common stressor or loss, such as
the death of a loved one, is not a mental disorder. Socially deviant
behavior (e.g., political, religious, or sexual) and conflicts that are
primarily between the individual and society are not mental disorders
unless the deviance or conflict results from a dysfunction in the
individual, as described above. (APA, 2013a, p. 20)
Early Theories
• Abnormal behavior was evil
spirits trying to get out.
• Trephining was often used.
http://tywkiwdbi.blogspot.com/2013
/11/a-comparison-of-trephinationtechniques.html
Early Theories
• Another theory was to make the body
extremely uncomfortable.
Lobotomy!
History of Mental Disorders
• In the 1800’s,
disturbed people
were no longer
thought of as
madmen, but as
mentally ill.
• They were first put
in hospitals.
Early Mental Hospitals
• They were nothing more than
barbaric prisons.
•The patients were chained
and locked away.
•Some hospitals even
charged admission for the
public to see the “crazies”,
just like a zoo.
Philippe Pinel
• French doctor who was the first
to take the chains off and
declare that these people are
sick and “a cure must be found!”
Dorothea Dix
• First American to
advocate for more
humane treatment of
mentally ill
• Lobbied Congress &
created the first
generation of
American mental
asylums
Perspectives and Disorders
Psychological School/Perspective
Psychoanalytic/Psychodynamic
Cause of the Disorder
Internal, unconscious drives
Humanistic
Failure to strive to one’s potential or
being out of touch with one’s feelings.
Behavioral
Reinforcement history, the environment.
Cognitive
Irrational, dysfunctional thoughts or
ways of thinking.
Sociocultural
Biomedical/Neuroscience
Dysfunctional Society
Organic problems, biochemical
imbalances, genetic predispositions.
Current Perspectives on
Causes/Treatments
• Medical Perspective: psychological disorders
are sicknesses and can be diagnosed, treated
and cured.
• Bio-Psycho-Social Perspective: assumes
biological, psychological and sociocultural
factors combine to interact causing
psychological disorders.
• “Who in the rainbow can draw the line where
the violet tint ends and the orange tint
begins? Distinctly, we see the difference of the
colors, but where exactly does the one first
blendingly enter into the other? So with sanity
and insanity?”
DSM V
• Diagnostic &
Statistical Manual of
Mental Disorders:
the big book of
disorders.
• DSM will classify
disorders and
describe the
symptoms.
• DSM will NOT explain
the causes or possible
cures.
Labeling Psychological Disorders
1. Critics of the DSM-5 argue that labels may
stigmatize individuals.
2. David Rosenhan
Labeling Psychological Disorders
Labels may be helpful for
healthcare professionals when
communicating with one another
and establishing therapy.
“Insanity” labels raise moral
and ethical questions about
how society should treat
people who have disorders
and have committed crimes.
4Ds
Trephining,
Torture,
Lobotomies,
Hospitals
What is
Abnormal?
History
Module 47
Intro to
Abnormal Psych
Philippe Pinel,
Dorothea Dix
Causes/Treatments
Perspectives
Medical
Bio Psycho
Social
Labeling
DSM-5
Pros
Cons